Category Archives: Opinion
Where does the buck stop?
By Jamie Marchant With the ink barely dry on the latest round of annual results from the leading insurers the usual bleating began from CEO’s about the parlous state of … Continue reading
Westminster should probe comparison sites
By Ralph Savage If yesterday’s hearing at the House of Commons Environment select committee on floods proved anything, it is that they must include comparison web sites and major distributors … Continue reading
Insurer v Broker claims spat: Score draw or own goal?
Perhaps we should start by recognising that airing such disputes so publicly will undoubtedly shine an unfavourable light on our profession and on the insurance market as a whole and that this takes away from all the good things that we do every day? Shooting first and asking questions later is never the best option. Where’s the value in scoring a few points if it then hurts the market’s reputation universally?
FSCS levy hike hides real issue for brokers
The recent announcement by the FSA that it was to consult the market on proposed changes to the way the FSCS levy is administered has caused plenty of gnashing of … Continue reading
Killing the joy in killjoy
If I was a broker, I wouldn’t be celebrating just yet – these conflicting statements do little more than make it clear that anything could come out of this review. The market is not out of the woods yet so I’d advise brokers to put away the party hats for now.
#BIBA2012 Insurers enjoying clear path down corridors of power
When Andrew Marr told delegates at the British Insurance Brokers’ Association 2012 conference that insurers have historically been mistrusted around Westminster, I wondered if he might be about to quote former PM Harold Macmillan by adding; ‘but you’ve never had it so good’.
The BBC political commentator opened his speech to a packed Manchester Central Auditorium with the suggestion that general insurers might have been unfairly lumped in with the life insurance market in gaining this poor reputation amongst the political class.
Could the police outsource to insurers?
THE HEAD OF one of the UK’s largest police forces has invited insurers to help and invest in combating fraud and other criminal activity.
In a speech to the Insurance Institute of Manchester, Peter Fahy, chief constable of Greater Manchester Police indicated his support for the idea of law enforcement working more closely with the private sector and ‘outsourcing’ certain services.
“We’ve got to save £138m from our budget,” said Mr Fahy. “We are saving insurance industry money [through our investigations of crash for cash, fraud etc] is there no way we can’t work together more?”
Insurer lobbying power should force Law Society rethink
If the six-point plan designed to to tackle rising motor insurance premiums outlined by Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday proves anything, it’s that lobbying this coalition just got tougher.
Before the meeting Downing Street had already made its intentions abundantly clear, by cold shouldering any representatives of the claimant personal injury market and briefing the national, trade and broadcast media that it would be the insurance industry itself who would be trusted to decide what changes are necessary in order to pass on savings to consumers.
My top five headaches for the UK insurance industry
FOR THOSE RUNNING brokers and insurance companies in the UK non-life market, 2012 promises to be a challenging year with reputation topping my list of worries for the industry.
Issues ranging from closure of a £500m tax loophole to how major property exposures can be managed once a decades-old pact to insure buildings at risk of flooding comes to an end; these and more will all vie for directors’ attention alongside the day to day running of businesses typically located at the grudge purchase end of the high street.
With concerns both legislative and market-driven requiring considerable thought, here’s my top five insurance industry headscratchers.
